


Come A Little Closer

by eternitywrites



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-03-10
Packaged: 2018-01-11 16:57:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1175537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternitywrites/pseuds/eternitywrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Until nothing but air can fit between the two of us.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1, 2, and 7

**Author's Note:**

> My incredibly sappy OTP Valentine's Day project. Prompts are from [here](http://fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment.tumblr.com/post/51337588846/writing-prompts-for-couples-of-characters). Chapters are titled according to the prompt numbers I chose. I can only hope I'll be able to get all of this uploaded by Valentine's day.

**Technobabble**

Noiz clicked his tongue in frustration, glaring at the projected monitor as though it had personally insulted him. He was attempting to adjust the individuality settings on his Usagimodoki, but for some reason his Allmates kept blocking him, treating his efforts like some kind of attack and flashing warning screens in his face.

“What’s up, kiddo?” Aoba leaned over the back of the couch, the tips of his hair tickling the curve of Noiz’s neck. “Whoa! Did someone hack into your rabbits?”

“Nah.” Noiz blew out a sigh, moving his arm up to cradle the back of Aoba’s head in his hand. “I’ve been trying to tweak their personalities so that they’d have more freedom to act independently of one another, but nothing’s going through.”

“Hm, I think the problem is that you’re not deep enough in their system. It’s hard to bypass the pre-installed personality software, especially with the newer types. What I usually do is — do you mind if I…?”

“Sure.” Rather curious, Noiz brought his Coil closer so that Aoba could swipe through the screens with greater ease.

“I go into Ren’s cognitive algorithms for a lot of stuff like this.” Aoba’s long fingers danced confidently across the monitor. “It’s a really inelegant way to change Allmate behavioral patterns, but once you’re this far in their programming you can get them to do whatever you want with a little fiddling around. This method is basically a crack, though, so you can kiss any kind warranty you have on them goodbye once you start editing the commands. And even the tiniest error can bust everything beyond repair. Back at Heibon I’d tell customers they’re better off sticking with the setting sliders that are already there. Less chance of their poor Allmate blowing up in their face because they don’t know what they’re doing.”

Noiz gave his words some thought. “That’s pretty old-school, but I like it,” he decided. “I never bothered with warranties, anyway. The help hotline isn’t going to say anything about my Allmates that I don’t already know.”

“Have at it, then, you little smartass.”

Before Aoba could withdraw, Noiz grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer, his lips curving up.

“What’s that look for?” Aoba asked suspiciously.

“That was some excellent dirty talk.”

“What?!”

Noiz brought his mouth to Aoba’s quickly reddening ear. “Tell me more about bypassing software and cognitive algorithms, Aoba.”

“Holy crap, Noiz!” To his delight, Aoba burst out laughing. “What _doesn’t_ get you worked up, you perv?”

Noiz laughed, too, and then he dipped down and pressed a kiss to Aoba’s throat, enjoying its vibrations against his lips.

  
 **Audio Addict**

Aoba and Noiz were lounging on the couch after dinner, Aoba sitting upright and Noiz lying down with his head resting on Aoba’s thighs. Sleepy and full of food, Aoba had been content to quietly watch television as he played with Noiz’s hair, but it wasn’t long before Noiz spoke up.

“Let me see your Coil.”

“Sure thing.” Aoba slipped it off his wrist and dropped it into Noiz’s waiting palm. A little bemused, he watched Noiz bring up his music lists and scroll through his songs.

“Looking for anything specific?”

“No, I just wanted to confirm something.” Noiz glanced up at him. “Your taste in music is completely indiscriminate, isn’t it?”

Aoba bristled at once. “Pardon the hell out of me,” he said with a huff. “I’m open-minded! What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, but have you even listened to a third of what’s on here? Damn, I haven’t even reached the bottom of this thing, yet.”

“Of course I have! I don’t download stuff sight-unseen. I’ve listened to everything on there at least once.”

Noiz hummed and flipped over so that his chest pressed down on Aoba’s legs. “I think you have a song in just about every language there is.”

“So? Why stick to only one country’s music?”

“And…yeah, thought so. GOATBED’s entire discography in its own specially marked playlist.”

Aoba narrowed his eyes. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Noiz looked up at him for a long moment. Aoba silently dared him to try and talk smack about his favorite band.

“GOATBED’s _alright_ ,” said Noiz at last. “I’ll give them that much credit, I guess.”

As unenthusiastic as his admission was, Aoba figured it was a positive enough opinion to let it go. “What about you? I don’t see you listening to a whole lot of music.”

“Not much. I concentrate better in silence.”

“Nothing at all?” Aoba frowned. “That’s no fun. There’s gotta be something out there you’d really like.”

Noiz’s gaze drifted off to the side in that thoughtful way of his. “Well, electronic music is usually what I go for. Less stupid lyrics to deal with in that genre.”

“Stupid lyrics…” Aoba repeated with a disapproving ‘tsk’. “So you’re _that_ kind of music snob, huh?”  
  
Noiz’s answering grin was thin and devious. “Someone has to balance out all the shitty pop songs you love so much.”

“They’re not shitty!”

Aoba brought his hand down in thoughtless retaliation. He hadn’t been aiming at any particular spot on Noiz’s body when he did that, which somehow resulted in him hitting the last place he ever wanted to strike.

Noiz jolted, mouth hanging open in complete shock. “Did you just slap my ass?”

“I — I, uh…” Heat flooded into Aoba’s face. There was no point in denying what his stupid hand managed to do, so his frantic mind rushed to come up with a clever comeback. “Y-yeah, I totally did! And it was like slapping you on the shoulder. No meat there at all.”

Aoba felt Noiz’s chest tremble before he gave way into a fit of laughter, dropping Aoba’s Coil and rolling onto his back.

“I can’t believe you did that,” he said between gasps as he clutched his stomach. “That was so bad. I am _never_ asking you to spank me in the bedroom.”

“Good! Because I’d have said no, anyway!”

If anything, Aoba’s humiliated declaration made Noiz laugh even harder, but despite Aoba dearly wanting to bury his head in a pit, seeing Noiz crack up so freely filled him with an unreasonable amount of joy.

Which didn’t stop him from trying to push Noiz to the floor.

 

* * *

 

**Not Even Worth It**

Noiz stood in his father’s office, slouching a little and hands tucked into his pockets as he started vaguely into the distance. His father was berating him for…something or other. Probably for circumventing some tedious, long disregarded sub-regulation only old-fashioned, micro-managing assholes like the man sitting in front of him cared about.

“We have an _image_ to uphold in this company. How can I expect even our lowliest workers to adhere to our standards when my own son thinks the rules are beneath him?”

Whatever.

His father rapped his knuckles on his polished mahogany desk. Noiz couldn’t even drum up the energy to find it irritating. “Pay attention, Noiz! Your mother and I welcomed you back into the family with open arms and yet you are _still_ just as ungrateful, _still_ just as immature as you have always been and — ”

This whole spiel again. It didn’t matter if it came from him or his mother, the words always flew in one of Noiz’s ears and out the other like meaningless static. Still, Noiz knew that if he didn’t respond he was going to be wasting all of his lunch break at this “meeting”, so he finally deigned to look his father in the eye while he repeated, verbatim, the section of company policy his father was hounding him over and the exact date it fell out of practice.

His father opened his mouth and shut it.

Noiz rubbed the back of his neck. “Are we done here?”

“You’ve taken up enough of my time, today,” he said stiffly as he needlessly shuffled through the stack of papers on his desk. “You may leave. And I don’t want to see your face in my office again for at least another week.”

Noiz turned around and sauntered out of the room, already in the process of putting the whole thing from his mind.

Still, the rest of his day at work felt very, very long.

~

“Noiz!” Aoba dropped his pen in surprise and turned down the music blasting from his Coil. He was sitting cross-legged in the center of their bed, surrounded by papers, textbooks, and their Allmates. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“It’s fine.” Noiz removed his tie and tossed it on the dresser. “Watching you try to dance while you’re sitting was very cute.”

“I wasn’t dancing!” Aoba made a face at him, cheeks pink. “How did today go, brat?”

“Same as it usually does. Uneventful.”

“Really?” Aoba’s embarrassment gave way to something more concerned. “You look wiped.”

“Do I?” Noiz couldn’t quite meet his gaze. Instead, he busied himself with unbuttoning his shirt. “I don’t really feel that way.”

“Is that so?” Aoba didn’t sound entirely convinced. “Well, even if nothing happened to you at work…” He paused and looked down at the Japanese-to-German handbook he held. “Uh, _gut gemacht!_ Did I say that right?”

“You did.” Noiz’s heart ached at his words. He came up to Aoba at once, leaning over the bed and kissing him slowly. “ _Ich bin dir sehr dankbar für dich._ ”

“You’re…welcome?”

Noiz simply kissed Aoba again, relief flooding through him as Aoba’s presence dissolved the leaden weight that had settled in his chest.

  
 **What’s Past Is Past**

“Do you not want to tell me?”

“I thought you already knew, actually,” said Aoba, looking down at his hands. He figured the topic would come up sooner or later, but he had definitely hoped for the latter.

Noiz shrugged. “I was only interested in the Rhyme stats of Sly Blue, and those were hard enough to dig up. I ignored whatever rumors I came across.”

Aoba was exceedingly grateful for that.

“I want to know more about you.” He reached over and tilted Aoba’s chin up so that he could look him in the eye. “Good and bad.”

Aoba’s shame over his past and his desire to open up to Noiz the way Noiz had done for him combated fiercely inside his mind. And shame won out.

“I…a lot of what I remember of it was pretty bad, I guess.” He tried to laugh as though it wasn’t a big deal. “I was just your average street punk for a long time. You know. That old story. It’s not all that interesting.”

“I see.” He settled back into his hospital bed, his expression hard to read. Aoba squirmed in his seat, neck throttled by anxiousness.

“Never mind.” Noiz’s hand came back again, this time to entwine his heavily bandaged fingers with Aoba’s tense ones. “Whenever you’re ready, Aoba. I don’t have to hear it any time soon.”

Aoba didn’t feel calmed by his words, just more shame that dug sharply into his insides. “Thanks. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Noiz lifted Aoba’s hand to his lips and took his time kissing each of his knuckles. Aoba was getting used to such fond contact between the two of them. Instead of embarrassing him, the attention Noiz gave his hand brought air back into his lungs.

  
 **He’ll Take This One With Him to the Grave**

“You got fired in three days?” Noiz raised his eyebrows. “How did you screw up that badly?”

“Nope.” Aoba shook his head, stirring the vanilla ice cream in his bowl into a smoothie. He certainly hadn’t meant to bring up his disastrous first job. This was probably what he deserved for suggesting they run out to buy the stuff for tonight’s dessert.

“Nope? Nope as in…?”

“Nope as in nope. Not too hard to understand.”

“I promise I won’t laugh.”

Aoba narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m gonna have to call bullshit on that.”

“I won’t laugh _too much_.” Noiz pouted. “Come on, you can’t make me dish out the ice cream for us and then refuse to tell me why.”

“As if it was so hard for you to do! And I cooked dinner, anyway. It’s completely fair.”

“But I really want to know,” said Noiz. He leaned over the table, the better to stare deeply into Aoba’s eyes. “Please, Aoba?”

“Knock it off!” Aoba drew away from him, but it was too late. Noiz’s magic had woven itself around Aoba’s tongue. “Fine, I’ll only say this much: The shop owners actually hid from me the last time I passed by their place, a couple of people may have ended up in the hospital during my period of employment, and Granny still refuses to let me go anywhere near a scooper. That’s it! That’s all you’re getting out of me.”

“What the hell?” Noiz rubbed at his lips as though he were trying to wipe away the grin threatening to spread across them. “That’s…actually impressive, in a way.”

“Shut up.” As soon as he lowered his hand Aoba stuck a spoonful of his own ice cream into Noiz’s mouth. Just as he had hoped, Noiz’s eyes darkened in appreciation of being fed. As his thumb reached up and rubbed a teasing circle on the inside of Aoba’s wrist, Aoba knew the two of them were about to become too distracted to continue the conversation.

 

* * *

 

**To Touch**

Aoba sighed blissfully and snuggled deeper into his pillow. Noiz was lying beside him, his rough fingers running down his back, over his shoulders, up his neck. Sometimes he would stroke the side of Aoba’s face. It made Aoba feel so sweetly at peace, drifting in a sort of permanent afterglow Noiz had created for him.

“I’m ‘bout to pass out,” Aoba mumbled after a while.

“Go ahead,” said Noiz, his voice very soft. “Can I keep touching you afterward?”

The look on Noiz’s face was oddly serious rather than tender. He seemed determined to memorize the sensation of Aoba’s skin against his hand. Likewise, Aoba never wanted to forget the way Noiz spoke volumes with only his fingertips on Aoba’s body.

“As much as you like.” Aoba gave him a sleepy smile and allowed his eyes to close as Noiz continued his solemn caresses.

  
 **To Surprise**

Noiz frowned at Aoba, who had burst into his office out of breath and soaked from head to toe. “Where’s your umbrella?”

“It only started to pour after I got on the bus,” said Aoba. “I swear it was almost sunny when I left the house. But forget about that, I brought you this!”

He went up to Noiz’s desk and placed a plastic bag on it, both that and him shedding water everywhere.

“I think they came out pretty well!” Excitement was plain in Aoba’s voice as he undid the knot. “Granny helped me out a lot over video-chat, though. I might have made a disaster out of it without her.”

He took out the container inside the bag and opened the lid. Noiz peered inside. The sight of the neat rows of fried dough balls brought an instant smile to his face.

“Takoyaki!” Aoba announced. “We can make some together next ti — mmph!”

Noiz had grabbed him by his soggy shirt collar and pulled him down for a fierce kiss, the taste of rain and Aoba mingling pleasantly on his tongue.

“Stay with me for lunch?” he asked, a little breathless when they broke apart.

Aoba inhaled shakily before grinning back at him. “I guess so, since you asked so nicely.” He bent down and kissed Noiz’s forehead, leaving behind cool droplets on his face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 2 gets an extra passage (I'm doing 2 drabbles per each prompt for all but this and the last 2 prompts I chose) b/c I really wanted to include Aoba's mysterious ice cream shop incident.
> 
> "Gut gemacht!" - Well done!
> 
> "Ich bin dir sehr dankbar für dich." - I'm very grateful/thankful for you. (I think...)
> 
> I'd like to once again thank Google (and helpful readers in the comments!) for allowing me to use elementary school-level German in my fanfiction.


	2. 9, 17, 19

**Cuddle**

As Aoba became more acquainted with the practice of sharing a bed with someone, he discovered a sleeping habit of Noiz’s that made his heart melt. One night, in the spirit of curiosity, Aoba decided to test it out.

Aoba glanced over his shoulder. Noiz appeared deep in sleep, quiet as always, that mildly grumpy expression he tended to wear in his waking moments having softened into something more unguarded. Irresistibly cute, in Aoba’s opinion. An opinion he didn’t mind sharing with Noiz, as embarrassing as it was. It was one of the few things that could break the kid’s cool and get a decent reaction out of him.

Careful not to make his movements too abrupt, Aoba wiggled out of Noiz’s light grasp.

A couple of minutes later (Aoba had counted each second), Noiz arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him back until Aoba’s spine was flush with Noiz’s chest.

The smile on Aoba’s face was wide. He was glad Noiz couldn’t see it.

He tried it again. Just to be absolutely certain this wasn’t a once-off response, of course. Same result.

Aoba had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud. Giddiness made the inside of his stomach flutter madly. He honestly couldn’t handle his boyfriend, sometimes.

Right before he could move away for a third time, Noiz’s arms tightened around him too sharply for the movement to have been done in his sleep. Aoba froze. Among other things, Noiz was generally a light sleeper, something that had slipped Aoba's mind in his recklessness.

“Stupid,” came his drawl, breath brushing against the back of Aoba’s neck. “What are you up to?”

Aoba winced, ashamed at having disturbed his slumber. “I was, uh, just trying something out.”

“Trying something, huh?” Thankfully, he didn’t sound too irritated. Aoba felt him rub his forehead against his shoulder before he continued, still speaking in that same slow and sleepy way. “It’s easier for me to fall asleep when I’m holding you. You’re soft and warm. And you smell nice. It’s cozy.”

“Geez.” Blushing, Aoba turned in Noiz’s embrace so that they faced each other and curled an arm over his shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’ll keep still. Go back to sleep, Noiz.”

Noiz still had his eyes shut, but he was smiling a little. “Thanks. ‘Night, Aoba.”

“Goodnight.”

  
**Kiss**

Noiz frowned and left his tie half-undone, reaching up to rub his nose, instead. “Why do you do that all the time?”

“Do what?” Aoba had one foot out of their bedroom. He turned around, looking perplexed.

“Kiss my nose.” It was something he had been meaning to ask Aoba for awhile now. Aoba didn’t just kiss the place where it used to be pierced. He liked to kiss the tip of it, all along the bridge, the side, wherever he could reach.

Not that the gesture upset Noiz. On the contrary, kissing his nose seemed to make Aoba especially happy, giving a look to his face Noiz could gaze at for the rest of his life and never once tire of. He just found the Aoba’s fixation itself kind of bizarre. What was so interesting about noses in general, let alone his own?

“Ah.” Aoba came back to him and put his hands on his shoulders, both of them looking at their reflections in the mirror above their dresser. “I just think it looks nice.”

“How so?”

“Um.” Aoba glanced at him. “I don’t want to say that it’s _big_ , necessarily…”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s…prominent?”

Noiz simply raised an eyebrow at him.

“It’s a strong nose! Strong works, doesn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Noiz shrugged. “I’ve never thought about my nose before you started putting your mouth all over it.”

Aoba made an exasperated sound, his cheeks slightly pink. “I notice it, how about that? I notice your nose and I like what I see. Does that bother you?”

“Not particularly,” said Noiz, unable to stop himself from smirking. “Your thing for noses is kind of cute.”

“Whatever.” Aoba pulled him by his collar and pressed his lips to the top of his nose, an action that flew in the face of his weak attempt to play off his interest in it.

Noiz didn’t mind in the slightest. He still didn’t understand the aesthetic merits of a nose, but he supposed there had to be something to it if it made Aoba respond to him in such an affectionate manner. 

 

* * *

 

**Homecoming**

Noiz:  
ive left the airport

Noiz:  
shouldnt be long until im home

Noiz:  
a couple of hours at the latest

Aoba:  
i can’t wait. we have a lot of catching up to do~

Noiz:  
true enough

Noiz:  
ive been gone for so long itll probably take all night for us to finish catching up with each other

Noiz:  
(◕‿−)☆

Aoba:  
as if the innuendo would have been too subtle for me to notice without your silly winking kaomoji, perv.

Aoba:  
and who said i was talking about what you’re so obviously thinking?

Aoba:  
what if i just felt like cuddling and watching movies with you?

Noiz:  
then thats what well end up doing

Noiz:  
but on the other hand

Noiz:  
‘what if’ isnt exactly the most definitive phrase you could have used if you REALLY wanted to keep things innocent

Noiz:  
are you sure you just want to cuddle tonight?

Noiz:  
because i dont think you do

Aoba:  
you only think that because your dick is hardwired directly to your brain.

Noiz:  
and id love to get it hardwired directly to you when i get back

Aoba:  
（−＿−;）

Noiz:  
(¬‿¬)

Aoba:  
shameless.

Noiz:  
you cant fool me i know youre smiling behind your coil

Aoba:  
go ahead and assume whateeeever you want~

Aoba:  
don’t you have a home to go back to, dummy?

Noiz:  
i do

Noiz:  
its wherever you are

Aoba:  
geez! someone’s smooth as hell.

Noiz:  
that wasnt me being smooth

Noiz:  
but i should get going

Noiz:  
ill be there soon

Noiz:  
love you

Aoba:  
love you, too! stay safe on the road.

Aoba:  
（´・｀ )♡

Noiz:  
♡(っ˘з(˘⌣˘ )

  
**Wanderlust**

“Yo.”

“What’s up?” Aoba smiled down at the little screen showcasing Noiz’s face. The tiny, grainy video feed was often more of a hindrance than a help during a normal phone call, but Aoba didn’t like to turn it off when he spoke to Noiz. “On your break?”

“Actually, I finished everything early, today.” He sounded very smug. “I’ll be home in about ten minutes.”

“Wow, so quickly? That’s great! Good work, Noiz. But…” Aoba looked around. He was sitting outside of a small cafe, a good distance away from the apartment complex they lived in. “You’re probably gonna get there sooner than I will.”

“Where are you?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted with a chuckle. Noiz’s eyebrows furrowed a little. “It’s fine! I felt like exploring again and I sorta ended up at this restaurant. They have good pastries here.”

“I’ll meet you over there. What street are you on?”

“I couldn’t really tell you, to be honest.”

“Are there no street signs where you’re at?” The concern in his voice became plainer.

A twinge of embarrassment made Aoba hesitate before answering. “No, no, it’s behind me, but…I can’t pronounce it at all.”

“Coils aren’t only for phone calls, you know.”

“I know, brat!” Aoba snapped. “I don’t want to rely on mine too much. That’s basically cheating.”

“Cheating?” Now he sounded amused. “If that’s how you feel, then tell me yourself, Aoba. You’ve been studying, haven’t you?”

“Well, yeah.” Feeling a bit like Noiz was challenging him, Aoba twisted around in his seat to get a better view of the sign. “I think it’s…Sah-see? Sah-see-lllin-strah…Dammit, that doesn’t sound right at all. Seh-seh-lin-strrgh…” He shook his head and turned his attention back to Noiz. “I don’t have a clue.”

If there was one thing Noiz wouldn’t tease him about, it was his currently less-than-great German. Instead, he heard Noiz hum quietly. “I think I know what you’re trying to say.”

“I’ll text you the address in a second,” said Aoba, abashed.

“That wasn’t a bad try. Really,” he added, no doubt catching Aoba’s look of disbelief. “You’re picking it up faster than you give yourself credit for.”

“If you insist.” Aoba sighed and sipped the coffee he had bought. Noiz wasn’t one to sugar-coat his opinion, but at the same time Aoba knew he could learn faster. Far faster than he was progressing at the moment. He wanted to be as capable to Noiz as Noiz was to him, but he couldn’t do that if he still struggled with telling him simple things without the crutch of technology.

“Hey, Aoba?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you enjoying yourself here?” Noiz’s features held a certain tenseness to them, much to Aoba’s surprise.

“Yes,” he said at once. “Do I seem like I’m not?”

“I want to make sure. I know you just came back from Grandma’s, but whenever you feel homesick you should let me know, okay?”

“I’m fine, Noiz!” Times like these were Aoba’s stark reminders that Noiz harbored his own worries under his collected facade. “Sure, it’s really different from Midorijima. A lot less trash-filled back-alleys, for one, and it doesn’t look as if the entire police force is in bed with whatever equals the yakuza in these parts. At least as far as I can tell.”

Some of the anxiousness bled out of Noiz’s face. “No jackass Ribsters ganging up on teenagers and the elderly for their pocket change, either.”

“Hey, hey, they aren’t all like that!” Aoba laughed, though. “But even if it’s nothing like my hometown, I like it. It’s fun going out and learning about this place first-hand.” He dropped his gaze from his Coil. “And it’s easy for me to see myself spending a lot of time here. With you.”

“That’s good,” he heard Noiz murmur. “I’m glad, Aoba.”

Aoba nodded, distracting himself by turning his cup round and round in his hands. “Do you want me to order something for you while you’re en-route?”

“Whatever you had is fine for me. See you in a bit.”

“Alright.” Aoba looked up and offered him a shy smile. “See you, Noiz.”

 

* * *

 

**Alone Abroad**

“I don’t care how urgent it is, I don’t want to be bothered by a single call or message from my parents or anyone who attended the meeting this afternoon for the rest of the night,” said Noiz, who stepped out of his shoes and took off his jacket as soon as he entered his hotel room.

“Roger,” said the Usagimodoki orbiting around him. “Specified contacts have been temporarily blocked on all lines!”

“Good."

Energy at a low ebb, he didn’t bother hanging his jacket and tie up in the closet. He simply threw them over a chair before approaching the bed and letting his body fall on the mattress, the size of which seemed way too big for a single person. It was probably very luxurious like the rest of the hotel, but he couldn’t bring himself to be impressed by any of it.

Aoba would have been, though. And with him around, the bed wouldn’t have seemed so ostentatiously huge.

Noiz blew out a weary breath and spent some time gazing listlessly at the ceiling. The day actually hadn’t been too taxing and the night was still young, but he toyed with the idea of turning in early. It’d be a way to speed up this boring, three-day business trip that could have been handled through a few online conferences. Just thinking about the waste of money and time this was annoyed him.

His bunny cube hopped onto his stomach and began to spin on its corner. “Noiz! Noiz! You’re unhappy, aren’t you?”

“I guess,” he grunted. “Definitely not enjoying myself, anyway. Why?”

“Because Aoba told me to tell you that if you’re unhappy you should look in your suitcase!”

Noiz sat up. The cube floated away from him and began to circle the suitcase he had left next to the writing desk, beeping loudly.

“Aoba’s sneaky! He put a present under your clothes right before you left, but he wouldn’t tell me what it is. He’s so sneaky!”

“Did he, now?” For the first time in hours the corners of his mouth lifted upward. He got off the bed and went over to his suitcase, lying it down and opening it up.

“P! What is it? What is it? Let me see!”

“Calm down, it’s not _your_ present.” He poked the Usagimodoki aside while digging through neat stacks of his clothing. In the very bottom corner his fingers finally hit something round and fuzzy. He pulled it up, a few rolls of socks spilling out of the suitcase.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he muttered when a pair of floppy rabbit ears cleared his clothes.

It was anything but a joke. In his hand was a pale green stuffed rabbit with dark, shining eyes and a lolling pink tongue. While not exactly the same, he knew immediately what Aoba was referencing with it. It even wore a little white lab coat.

A card under the bright blue ribbon tied around its neck slipped out. He picked it up from the pile of suit pants it had fallen on and flipped it open.

_Noiz,_

_Meet your new traveling buddy! I know you didn’t explicitly say you wanted one when I first asked you, but I could see it in your eyes~. And you have to name it. It’d be rude to let it go without a name._

_PS: Work hard out there, kiddo. I know you can. I’ll be waiting for you._

_Aoba ♥_

“You  _doofus_. I’m not a child.” Noiz closed his eyes and pressed his forehead into the bunny’s.

“Status report: Noiz, your heart-rate and body temperature are rapidly increasing!”

“I’m fine.” Not really. In fact, he was beyond flustered. He still had no idea how to handle Aoba giving him things for no reason. It tripped him up every single time.

“I analyzed the note, p! Aoba was teasing you, wasn’t he?”

“More or less. He probably thinks he’s a damn riot.” He cleared his throat to get rid of the lump that had formed in it and looked at his Allmate. “This is Kaninchen. You and the rest have to treat it well from now on.”

“Roger!”

**Waiting At Home**

During the day Aoba managed to keep himself very busy, so it wasn’t that bad. His class started late in the morning. Which meant that for quite a few hours he found himself fully occupied with reviewing his assignments, rereading passages in his textbooks, and quelling the usual onset of nerves that always came on right before he had to leave. He didn’t mind any of that. It prevented him from dwelling on how big the apartment felt when it was just him, Ren and a few Usagimodoki inside of it.

After class was done he didn’t immediately return, either (he tried not to think about how there was no point in going back so soon when no one was waiting for him). He took Ren out of his shoulder bag and the two of them traipsed around the city. Sometimes they bought things, but most of the time they were content to simply explore. Ren would give a running commentary on various locations while Aoba made hasty notes about them in his Coil. Often he visited a local cafe, where many of the baristas now knew him on sight and served up his order without him having to ask. That was nice. He’d tip them well and drink outside if the weather was good, absorbing in the sights and sounds and smells of his new home into his body.

On this particular day it was well into the evening before he found himself back at the apartment. The grocery store had been busy. Aoba shifted the grocery bag in his hands, preparing to swipe his Coil over the lock as they turned a corner in the hallway.

“Tae is no doubt asleep by now,” Ren told him. “It’d be unwise to call her.”

“Aw, I can’t believe I lost track of time this badly,” said Aoba. “Hopefully she won’t be too mad at me tomorrow. You think Koujaku and Mizuki are still awake?”

“Perhaps.” Ren didn’t sound too confident, however. “It’d be better to wait until daylight to contact them.”

“You’re right,” Aoba sighed. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself now that evening was bleeding into nighttime. The groceries he had bought were for dinner in a couple days’ time. Tonight he had planned on a quick microwave meal. “Maybe I’ll play video games for awhile. I don’t know.”

“Aoba, are you alright? You’ve been agitated for much of today.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it.” Aoba smiled down at his partner. “I’ll be — what’s that?”

He saw something vividly white and blue poking out from the door frame leading into their apartment. Ren trotted ahead of him and gave it a sniff.

“Flowers,” he called to Aoba. “According to my image search they are Calla lilies and blue violets.”

“Wow, really?” Face flushed, Aoba hurried up to Ren, set his groceries down, and picked up the bouquet. It was a small one, in a simple glass vase decorated with a silky green ribbon. Attached to the ribbon was a plain card. He opened it with shaking fingers.

_These reminded me of you. I’ll be back as soon as I can, Aoba._

“You are the biggest sap in the entire world,” he muttered, knowing that the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes proved he was just as big a sap for being so affected by such a gift. He had to hand it to Noiz, his timing was impeccable.

“Shall we go inside?”

Ren’s voice thoroughly startled him. He lowered his hand from his mouth, wondering when he had pressed it over his lips in the first place. “What? Oh, r-right! Sorry, Ren. Spaced out for a second.”

“There’s no need to apologize.” Ren looked up at him. “Would you like me to research methods of flower care?”

“Yeah.” Aoba hastily brushed away a stray tear rolling down his cheek. “I want to keep these fresh for as long as I can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Aoba is trying to say in Wanderlust is Cäcilienstraße. Which apparently puts them in Cologne? Idk I just chose the street name that looked like it would tie his tongue in the most knots. I looked up a few of the big cities in Germany out of curiosity and I personally like to imagine them living in Munich. I just couldn't find good street names in that city for whatever reason.
> 
> And for those that don't know, Noiz named his rabbit...Rabbit, basically. Proudly upholding his lack of creative naming skills.


	3. 23, 24, 25

**Shining Blue**

“Hiii — ” Aoba yawned, his eyes squeezed shut. He hadn’t opened them ever since he accepted Noiz’s video-chat call. “‘Scuse me. What are you still doing up? You should be in bed.”

“It’s barely midnight over here,” said Noiz. “I’m fine. You look like you don’t even know what day it is.”

“Right now I couldn’t even tell you the year, let alone the day.” Aoba rubbed a palm into his eye and yawned again, louder than before. Noiz snickered. “Ugh, this isn’t gonna work…can you call my Coil, instead?”

“Why?” Noiz made a distasteful face. “The video quality on your Coil is complete shit.”

“Too damn bad. I’m about to collapse on my computer table.” He cracked open an irritated eye. “Please?”

“That was the grouchiest ‘please’ I’ve ever heard.”

“I try my best.”

Aoba’s gave him a baleful, one-eyed glare, which Noiz countered with a sunny grin. “Don’t fall asleep on your way back to bed, lazy ass.”

“No promises.” Thousands of miles away, Aoba grumbled and moved his mouse. The video on Noiz’s screen went black.

Noiz leaned back in his chair, mentally counting out a few beats so that Aoba had time to reposition himself. Aoba was on day four out of his two-week visit to Midorijima and it tore Noiz in two, as it always did. His longing for Aoba’s return made his insides buzz in acute restlessness, eased only when he saw how happy and relaxed Aoba looked whenever they video-chatted.

Not that he appeared all that happy or relaxed this time, but Noiz wasn’t too worried. Aoba’s complete disgust over waking up seemed more a product of a night of drinking than anything else. He decided it was a good opening observation to make in order to get him nice and riled.

Unable to wait any longer, Noiz dialed Aoba’s Coil number through the chat client.

His call was answered on the second ring, Aoba’s voice resounding before the video feed kicked in. “You don’t have a drop of patience in you, do you?”

“I have as much patience as you have liquor tolera — ”

Noiz’s mouth shut with a click when Aoba came into view, his chest retracting in something like pain.

Aoba was lying in bed, Coil placed beside him on the pillow so that his image angled sideways. The realization that Aoba was truly captivating slammed into Noiz as he drank in every detail of him he could see through the video’s pixelation. His hair spilled over his shoulders and face (a face tinged pink from sleep and looking achingly soft), the shade so vibrant that sometimes Noiz looked out a window during sunny, cloudless days and could only think of him. Aoba was squinting blearily at him now but his eyes were still so transfixing with their strange colors and brightness. More than once Noiz had had to scramble to come up with a suitable response to a comment Aoba made, his mind having blanked upon gazing into them.

While there was no “best” part of him — Noiz refused to choose just one thing about him he liked above others — what got him the most was Aoba’s smile. They lit his face up so easily and he had so many instances of them: bashful, excited, gentle, exasperated…Aoba’s current one was lopsided and kind of silly in his tiredness, but Noiz added it to the rest he had filed away in his head. He wanted to reach out and touch it, memorize and get to know it better. He adored all of his smiles. Each time he witnessed one, Noiz felt he understood the world a little better than before.

And it really wasn’t that bad of a place.

“…repeating that again, brat?”

“Repeating what, that you’d be a lush if you could handle more than two shots per night?” asked Noiz in feigned innocence, mind quick to bring him back to reality.

“Pfft, get a load of this kid, talking like he regularly drinks people under the table when he barely touches the stuff.” Aoba croaked out a laugh. “I’d roll my eyes if my brain wasn’t trying to break through my skull.”

“At least I’m aware of my limits. You look like a mess, by the way.”

“Shut _uuuup.”_ Aoba took his pillow and covered his head with it. “You don’t need to tell me what I already know, jerk.”

“And you’re so beautiful to me.” There were times when he said this to Aoba out loud. Confidently, without hesitation. This time, however, something oddly uncomfortable flooded through him at the though of being overheard. It happened on occasion. Maybe Aoba rubbed off on him a little too much. “Thank you for being in my life.”

“What was that?” Aoba peeked out from under a corner of the pillow.

“Nothing much,” said Noiz. “So tell me, what did you and Mizuki get up to last night?”

  
**Calm Green**

“Is there anywhere else you want to go tonight?”

“Nowhere I can think of.” Aoba stretched his arms to the sky. He and Noiz had gone out to eat in a small restaurant with low lights and soft music, speaking to each other in quiet voices through dinner and dessert. It had been a ridiculously romantic outing Aoba was still recovering from. “That was nice, Noiz. We should go there again sometime.”

“Sure thing.” Noiz slipped his hand into Aoba’s, twining their fingers together. “It might be a little crowded, but let’s walk around the shopping district for awhile.”

“Sounds good.” A little evening busyness didn’t bother Aoba. If anything, it sounded like the perfect way to wind down their casual date. “We have time, right?”

“Plenty. We're in no rush.”

Noiz led him down a few sparsely-populated alleys before they arrived at their destination. Storefronts and lampposts spilled light onto the sidewalks and the air was filled with the bustling sounds of all the people strolling up and down the city streets. They slid into the thick of the activity, shoulders brushing and hands still tightly wound together.

Aoba smiled, looking around at all the shops. The sounds and sights were all very familiar to him, long used as he was to the narrow, chaotic streets of Midorijima. It didn’t make him miss home so much as remember it fondly. So many things were still unfamiliar to him in this country, but he was happy here.

And that was thanks in large part to the man that held his hand and gave it gentle caresses every now and then.

Aoba looked over to Noiz, about to ask if he wanted to go into any of the stores, but the words died on his lips. An embarrassing thought came to mind. Noiz was handsome. Almost unfairly so. There was no getting around it.

Suddenly his sight was roving over Noiz’s features. He couldn’t help but admire the light green color of his eyes, sharp and alert, made more off-putting by his short, thin brows that gave him a permanently cranky expression. But when they were really close, Aoba was always taken with how thick and pale his eyelashes were. Ever since he noticed them Aoba thought they added a touch of sweetness to his face that made it difficult for Aoba to keep his hands off of it (and the rest of him, if Aoba was honest with himself). He liked his hair, too. The color was a nice tint of blond, and it was short and neat and silky. The way it stuck up a little in the back made him laugh, though, especially when Noiz got grumpy and wouldn’t look at him when he first pointed out he had a duckbutt. Still, it was painfully adorable.

And then there was his smile. Noiz wasn’t smiling now, but whenever he did it had the power to stop Aoba in his tracks. At times it was no more than a smug upward quirk of his lips that made Aoba want to smack him. Then there were the wide, excited grins that infected Aoba until he was smiling back just as much. His gentle smiles Aoba couldn’t handle very well. They were tender in a way that made him want to hide.

Most importantly, Noiz smiled more often. Aoba didn’t care whether it was because of him or something else. Noiz smiled more. He was happy. That was all Aoba truly wanted.

“Aoba?”

Aoba jumped. How long had he been staring at Noiz?

“Something on my face?” Too long, apparently. Noiz leaned in, one of his more infuriating smiles tugging at his mouth.

“What? I — uh…” Aoba wanted to turn his attention elsewhere, but Noiz was pinning him to the spot with nothing but his gaze.

“Do you like looking at me?” he asked coyly. “You must. Your mouth was hanging open and everything.”

“Acting that arrogant is so not cute!” Aoba countered, his hot cheeks stinging in the cold night air.

“But you’re not denying it.” And before he could protest, Noiz closed the distance and kissed him. It was quick, but when he pulled away Aoba couldn’t help but glance around to see if anyone was gawking at their display. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice.

“There’s no winning with you, is there?” Aoba muttered, taking a sudden, intense interest in a clothing store they passed by.

“Not in the slightest.” Sounding extremely satisfied, Noiz placed another kiss under his ear.

As much as Aoba wanted to be exasperated, all he could really think was that he was pretty damn lucky, everything considered.

 

* * *

 

**Simple Happiness**

“I’m home,” called Noiz, closing the door behind him and shrugging out of his coat. His Allmates drifted ahead, chattering to one another in excitement. The whole apartment was filled with the delicious scent of cooking food. Chicken and rice, definitely, among a few other things that Noiz couldn’t identify.

There was something incredibly comforting about coming back to such a warm atmosphere.

Aoba was quick to appear in the entryway. “Welcome back, everyone! Dinner’s almost ready.”

“What are you making?” asked Noiz over the chorus of greetings the Usagimodoki squeaked as they and Aoba passed one another in the hall.

“A rice dish Granny taught me yesterday. I kinda felt like I was just tossing a bunch of random crap in a pot and seeing what happens, but it’s actually turning out alright.”

“Isn’t that basically what cooking is? Smells good, though. I’m sure it’s — oh?”

“What?” Aoba pouted as he stepped close and slung his arms around Noiz’s shoulders. “Is this so surprising?”

“Hm.” Noiz let his jacket fall from his hands, his arms wrapping themselves around Aoba’s waist, reeling him in until their bodies fit snugly together. _“Hmmm_ …maybe?”

“Don’t be stupid,” said Aoba. He smacked the back of Noiz’s head, a light pat that was quick to turn into affectionate rubbing. “I can be forward too, you know.”

He then pressed Noiz’s face into the crook of his neck. Noiz shut his eyes and sighed, squeezing Aoba tight, completely content.

  
**Surprise Attack**

“Hey, Noiz…”

“Yes?”

Aoba wiggled around a bit. Not that there was much room to do that, but he had to try. “What are you doing?”

“What does it feel like I’m doing?” Noiz gave his middle a squeeze and rubbed his cheek against Aoba’s.

“Hugging me,” he admitted with a sigh. "Obviously."

“Then why did you ask?”

“I was kind of in the middle of cleaning.” Aoba was being held so firmly that he couldn’t even turn around to face Noiz. And while he usually welcomed Noiz’s impromptu gestures of affection (of which there were many), they had been locked in an embrace for a good couple of minutes now. It wasn’t awkward, but Aoba had the feeling Noiz was gearing up for something. Probably something naughty. He wanted to at least finish tidying up the den before they got down to business.

“Is the vacuum going to run away if you put it down?” His voice was low and suggestive, brushing up against Aoba’s ear as he gave his waist another squeeze.

Aoba tried not to shiver. “Yep. It wrote its goodbye letter and packed up its belongings already. I have to use it one last time before it leaves us for good.”

“That’s a shame,” sighed Noiz, rubbing Aoba’s butt against his crotch. “How about the couch? Is it going to get even dirtier if you step away from it for awhile?”

“Absolutely filthy.” Aoba dropped the vacuum on the cushions and crossed his arms. So much for getting his chores done…

“You want to know what else is going to get filthy?”

“Oh, don’t tell me — _aaah!”_

With astonishing quickness, Noiz had spun him around and slung him over his shoulder like he weighed nothing at all.

“Put me down! _Put me down!”_ Aoba clung desperately to the back of Noiz’s shirt as the blood rushed to his head.

The asshole was laughing like he was having the time of his life. “Nope. You’re coming with me.”

“I swear I will cave your fucking intestines in with my knee if you don’t — shit!”

“My, my. How violent.” Noiz had clamped an arm around his legs. “I’m going to have to teach you to behave, aren’t I?”

“Damn. It. All!” Aoba tried to jerk his body out of Noiz’s grip, to no avail. The brat was too strong.

“Just relax,” said Noiz, patting his butt as he carried him out of the den. “I’m not going to drop you, Aoba.”

All Aoba could do was make angry, incoherent sounds, but he settled down. He hated to admit it, but he did feel fairly secure in Noiz’s arms. He would just have to find a way to get him back in the bedroom.

 

* * *

 

**Rough**

Noiz grunted as his back hit the side of the apartment complex. He was barely able to recover before Aoba went on the attack, placing his hands on the wall on each side of Noiz’s head and crushing their lips together.

“So hot,” Noiz managed to murmur between Aoba’s infuriated kisses. The night was cool, but his skin burned in a way that made him hungry for more.

Aoba bit into his lip as though to silence him. Noiz gasped. He was close to asking — begging — him to do that again.

“You need to stop…” panted Aoba, pulling back slightly, their lips brushing together with each word that left his mouth, “…feeling me up while we’re out for dinner, you little perv!” He looked like he had more to say, but instead he slid his tongue in Noiz’s mouth with a needy moan.

Greed overtaking him, Noiz sucked on Aoba’s tongue. Aoba's reaction was immediate. Sharp little sounds escaped his mouth, a shiver traveling down his body as he pressed closer to Noiz. Noiz groaned and rolled his hips into Aoba’s before leaning his head away with a low laugh.

“No one saw,” he said, sneaking his hands under Aoba’s shirt and scratching his nails lightly over his stomach. “And you spread your legs for me. Did that mean you wanted me to stop, instead?”

“You’re sitting on the opposite side of the table the next time we’re in a restaurant!”

“Mm, we’ll see.” Noiz traced his tongue down Aoba’s neck. “But for now…think we can make it past the elevator?”

Aoba whimpered when Noiz's teeth began to tug at his skin. “M-maybe.”

“I wouldn’t care if we didn’t. There’s a lot of room in there. Ow.”

Aoba had punched his shoulder. “And cameras!”

“Still wouldn’t care.” Noiz grinned.

“We are _not_ giving the security guards a show!” Aoba tightened his fingers in Noiz’s hair and pulled him up for another bruising kiss that left Noiz dazed. Aoba made him feel so frighteningly good. “Come on, kiddo. We need to get inside before we both end up with our pants down out here.”

“But…” Noiz had to take a breath before he could form the rest of his sentence, “but that sounds kind of fun, too.”

“Noiz!”

“…Fine.”

  
**Gentle**

It was a little nerve-wracking to stand in an airport surrounded by people and signs he couldn’t quite understand yet, but Aoba thought he was fairing pretty well. His jitters weren’t making him vibrate out of his seat the way they had when he had first waited for Noiz’s plane to return.

He was still worried, though. Just not as much as he could have been. He took Ren from his lap and tucked him under his chin. His partner wagged his tail.

“Aoba, the chance of Noiz’s plane being delayed at this stage in his flight are very low.”

“Is that a nice way of telling me to calm my ass down?” Aoba chuckled and rubbed his face in Ren’s soft fur.

“…Your heart rate hasn’t slowed since we departed the bus.”  
  
“I’ll be fine! When is he supposed to touch down, again?”

Aoba didn’t know why he asked. He had checked the schedule on his Coil so often over the past day that he knew the arrival time by heart. Ren answered him, anyway.

“Five minutes, Aoba. And there haven’t been any reports to indicate that will change.” Ren snuggled deeper in Aoba’s arms. “He’ll be here soon.”

“Yeah.” Aoba nodded. “Yeah, he will.”

The last five minutes of his waiting were unbearably long, though. He was tempted to occupy himself with something — maybe buy an overpriced drink or snack from one of the restaurants — but his insides seemed to squirm in protest of the idea. So he sat with Ren, jiggling his leg and trying not to stare too much at the time.

“Aoba,” Ren finally said. “His plane has landed.”

“Really?” His heart leapt into his throat.

“Shall we go wait by the escalators?”

“Let’s go.” He carefully placed Ren in his bag and made his way to the escalators as composedly as he could.

Other people were already clustered near them as he arrived, some talking, others quiet, all of them periodically looking for the appearance of the ones they were waiting for. Aoba stood somewhat apart from the group, eyes trained on the stairs.

After a few more torturous minutes, the first trickle of passengers descended to the ground floor. A little girl with dark pigtails broke into a run with a shout of _“Pappi! Pappi!"_ That made Aoba smile, but the tiniest flicker of sadness, abrupt and a slightly irritating, briefly came to life in the darkest corner of his mind.

He shook his head as if to physically put it out. He was being stupid. Now wasn’t the time for those kind of thoughts.

“Do you see him, Ren?” he asked, more to distract himself than anything else.

Ren poked his head out of his bag. “…Up there, Aoba. Behind the woman in the red sweater.”

Aoba turned his head so fast he nearly hurt his neck. Just as Ren had specified, behind an elderly lady in a dark red sweater was Noiz. He was casually dressed, bag slung over his shoulder, gazing around as the escalator lowered him.

Every anxious thought that had plagued Aoba fled away when their eyes connected, leaving behind something bright and weightless in his chest.

Noiz took the rest of the escalator at a quick jog. Aoba walked up to meet him halfway.

“Hey, you,” said Aoba once they were close enough. And it felt so good to be close to him again.

“Were you waiting long?” Noiz took his hand and brought the back of it to his lips.

“Not very. _Willkommen zurück,_ Noiz.”

“It’s good to be home, Aoba.”

Hand in hand, Noiz leaned down to kiss him. It was slow and reverent and filled Aoba with warmth that had him sighing into the kiss.

When they broke apart, Aoba held Noiz’s face in his hands and kept it close to his. Noiz laughed softly, and it almost made him tear up over how happy and relieved it sounded.

“Missed me?” Noiz asked with a grin.

Aoba sniffed, but managed to roll his eyes. Brat. “What do you think?”

“Your answer is probably the same mine would be if you asked me that question.”

“Probably.” Aoba gave him a quick, affection peck on the lips and ruffled his hair. “Let’s get your luggage and get out of here, Noiz.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Pappi!" - Daddy!
> 
> "Willkommen zurück." - Welcome back.


	4. 26, 27, 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prompt that pushes this to an M-rating is "Better Than A Blanket". Idek what to tag it as it's too short for any of them to fit remotely well.

**Silly Hat Party**

“What do you think you’re doing?”

A smirk made its way across Noiz’s mouth as he stood in the bedroom doorway and watched Aoba’s cheeks redden. Noiz had found him in front of the dresser mirror, wearing his old green hat and giggling as he pulled it by its ropes so that it nearly fell over his eyes. The only thing that had stopped Noiz from taking a dozen pictures of the spectacle was the fact he had left his Coil in his study.

“I was, well, uh…” Aoba hesitated, clearly desperate for a way to save face. “I was sorting through some laundry when I started to wonder what it would take to make me look like the dorkiest person on the planet. Then I put your hat on.” He tugged at the flaps and flashed him a grin. “That seemed to do the trick.”

Noiz raised his eyebrows. If that’s how Aoba wanted to go about this then he was only too happy to oblige him. “So it didn’t take much, is what you’re saying.”

Aoba’s face fell flat. Noiz tucked his hands in his pockets, silently inviting him to try and make another snarky little comment.

“I’m going to gracefully bow out before this gets out of hand,” he muttered at last.

“Smart of you.” Noiz went over to him and rubbed his hand over the top of Aoba’s covered head. “Never start shit you can’t finish in the first place, mister. Saves you some embarrassment.”

“Stop being obnoxious!” Aoba grimaced and stepped out of his grip.

There was something so satisfying in giving Aoba a taste of his own medicine. “So what are you really doing with my hat?”

“Nothing much,” he replied, adjusting it so that it was no longer lopsided. “I was going through some of our older things, looking for clothes that I could put away.” He pointed his thumb at the pile of clothes on the bed. “When I found it I just felt like putting it on, I guess. Do you want it back?”

“Hm.” Noiz let his gaze drift, thinking it over. In between going from Japan to Germany and back again, he had long since thought he had lost the damn thing. And while he had several other beanies and caps to wear, he couldn’t deny that he had sometimes poked around his side of the closet for it.

Still, it was just a hat, when all was said and done.

“Whatever,” he said at last. “You seem to enjoy it more than I ever did, anyway.”

“It’s _your_ hat!” Aoba propped a hand on his hip, expression torn between exasperation and amusement. “I only wanted to try it on for a bit, not take it from you. It clashes with my hair, anyway. Here you go.”

Before Noiz could protest, Aoba swept it off his head and placed on Noiz’s.

“There! It still looks cute on you, kid.”

Noiz grunted, but he didn’t have the heart to take it off.

“You’re welcome,” said Aoba, looking annoyingly smug.

“Shut up.”

He laughed. “And before you go, I found something else I wanted to ask you about.”

“I'm fine with whatever you decide to do with our old clothes.”

“Trust me, I really need your opinion on this one.” A devious glint came into Aoba’s eyes as he walked to their bed, extracted another hat from the laundry pile, and placed it on his head. “What is _this_ monstrosity supposed to be?”

Noiz didn’t gasp, but it was a close thing. There was no way he could ever forget those fucking cat ears.

“Are you _blushing,_ Noiz?”

“Actually, I’m leaving.”

And, with that, Noiz spun on his heel and exited the bedroom, the sound of Aoba cracking up between his half-hearted pleas for Noiz to stay following behind him.

  
**The Unfortunate Boyfriend Jacket**

“I’m back.”

Aoba looked up from the television at the sound of Noiz’s voice. Aoba had woken up that morning to an empty bed despite it being Noiz’s day off and a hasty text explaining that he needed to sort out some sort of emergency at work. “Welcome back! How bad was it?”

He heard Noiz sigh in acute aggravation from the entryway. “A disaster. There was a system-wide virus that infected all of the assistant Allmates deployed in the building. They went on a rampage through the second floor, tossing furniture around and shit. The infection wasn’t difficult to clean up, but I still fired the head of online security on the spot. He’s damn lucky no one was hurt because of his incompetence and he knows it.”

Aoba whistled low and twisted his body around on the couch, planting his knees on the cushions and leaning his chest on the back of it. “Sounds like you had a full day and it’s not even noon, yet.”

“Tell me about it.”

When Noiz stepped into the den Aoba nearly choked on his own spit in shock. Noiz was in normal day clothes rather than the usual three-piece suit he wore to work. Over his shirt was navy blue and orange jacket Aoba recognized instantaneously. It made the pit of his stomach freeze just to see it.

“What? Is something wrong?”

“Where…” Aoba rose from the couch and went up to Noiz, looking at him up and down. “…did you find that thing?”

“In the closet.” Noiz shrugged, fingering the zipper. “I grabbed the first coat I saw before I ran out of the apartment. It’s yours, right?”

“Yeah. I’m…surprised it fits you.” Speaking in a slow, cautious manner, Aoba patted the jacket against Noiz’s body. He felt really twitchy all of a sudden. “I was pretty much a kid when I first got it.”

“It’s kind of tight around the shoulders.” Noiz narrowed his eyes. “Aoba, are you alright?”

“What?” A shock snapped through Aoba’s body. “Of course! Yeah, of course I’m alright. I’m just being stupid. It looks good on you.”

Noiz was not one to be dissuaded. “How exactly are you being stupid?”

“I-it just reminds of — ” Vague, terrifying memories. “— my misspent youth, is all. So I’m a little thrown off. I thought I had thrown it away a long time ago.”

“Huh.” That was Noiz’s typical noncommittal response, and coupled with his displeased expression Aoba knew he was running out of wiggle room. Sometime soon, Noiz was going to sit him down and make him explain things Aoba could barely understand, himself, let alone want to.

But it seemed like today would not be that day.

“Well, you can do whatever you want with it,” he said after pecking Aoba on the lips. “I’m going back to bed. Want to join me?”

And like that, the atmosphere lightened. Aoba nearly exhaled out loud in relief. “Not until you clean the mess you made in the closet. Did you really have to dump all of your clothes on the floor?”

Noiz clicked his tongue and pouted. “I was in a hurry.”

“No excuses!” Managing a weak but genuine smile, Aoba circled behind Noiz and pushed him toward the bedroom. “C’mon, brat, I’ll help out. Then we can be lazy for the rest of the morning.”

 

* * *

 

**Better Than A Blanket**

Noiz clutched at the bedsheets, breath shaky and body trembling. It was quiet in their bedroom, save for the sound of rain slapping into the window and the loud, wet kisses Aoba was trailing along every inch of his exposed skin. On occasion his soft tongue darted out to taste him, but never his teeth or his nails.

And he was close to losing his mind over it.

“A-Aoba…” Eyes wide, Noiz watched in complete enthrallment as Aoba trailed a leisurely path down his navel with slick lips. He could feel Aoba _smiling_ , too, damn him. The guy was a complete menace. A teasing one that had Noiz melting in the palm of his hand.

“Are you warmer, now, Noiz?” Aoba murmured, all sweetness.

Noiz sucked in his lower lip before responding. “I need it hard. Stop being so gentle. I don’t _like_ it gentle — ah!”

Aoba had moved to his inner thigh, pulling the sensitive skin there into his mouth before releasing it and slowly laving at it with the flat of his tongue.

“Are you sure you don’t like gentle?” Aoba puffed hot breath over aching flesh, his hand reaching over to palm Noiz’s dripping erection. “This is saying otherwise. Bear with it for a little while longer, okay?”

Noiz could only utter something completely incoherent in response. He allowed his head to fall back onto his pillow, vision fuzzy as Aoba continued to ensure that Noiz stayed warm against the cold, inclement weather.

  
**The Couple That Plays Together...**

“Turn off the lights,” Noiz demanded. “We can’t start this game until the lights are off.”

“Yes, we can,” Aoba sighed, but he got up from the couch and did as Noiz asked of him. For a second, it was very atmospheric. The room was dark save for the glow of the television that lit up Noiz’s face. All that could be heard over the sound of the rain drumming all around their apartment was the gentle, somber violin strains floating from the speakers. It would have been downright romantic had the coffee table not been a mess of leftover pizza and half-empty soda cans.

Then Aoba returned to his seat next to Noiz, looked at the bloody corpse propped up against the front desk in a trashed, deserted lobby currently displayed on screen, and could only shake his head. It was definitely not one of their romantic nights.

But this was fun. And as far as Aoba was concerned just as good as a candlelit dinner and gentle cuddling on the couch.

Noiz glanced sideways at him and gave a thin smile. “No screaming this time, Aoba.”

Aoba punched his shoulder. “No deliberately getting lost just to scare the shit out of me, Noiz.”

“I can’t make any promises.”

“Then I hope you like my yelling.”

Noiz’s smile broadened. “Oh, sometimes it’s _really_ nice.”

Face hot, Aoba punched him again, harder than before.

Noiz rolled his abused shoulder. “Fine. No backseat playing, then.”

Aoba took a deep breath. “I’ll try. I’ll _try_ , but that’s all I can say.”

His silence didn’t last ten minutes.

“Would you close the door behind you whenever you enter a room?” he asked. So far, besides the presence of plenty of spilled blood and mangled bodies, nothing was happening and it was making him nervous.

“Why?” drawled Noiz, picking up a note and not even bothering to go into his inventory to read it. “It’s a waste of time.”

“No, it’s not! It stalls whatever terrible thing that’s going to chase you in this game and gives you time to hide!”

“Tch. I’d rather just rush pass them.”

“Don’t do that! That’s how you die a horrible death.”

“And speaking of rushing past things…” Noiz’s tone turned thoughtful. “How do you think we should handle that guy up ahead?”

“Oh, god.” Down the hall was a shadowy figure in a wheelchair, back facing the camera. “That thing’s twitching, I can _see_ it. He’s still alive. Fuck that. Turn around. Turn around and go somewhere else. It’s not worth it.”

“But Aoba…” Noiz made his character shuffle down the hall inch by inch. “I’ve already searched every other place on this floor for the security room key. There’s nowhere else for me to go. We have to get past him somehow.”

“Can you throw something at him? Throw that stool at him.”

Noiz clicked on the wooden stool near the wall. “No good. Do I crawl or run?”

“Why are you asking me?! You’re the one with the controller in your hands.”

“You sounded like such a horror game expert a few seconds ago.”

Aoba gritted his teeth. “Shit, just book it. Full speed ahead and don’t you dare stop next to him!”

“Are you sure…?”

“Yes! Go!”

Noiz ran down the hall. Aoba leaned back in his seat, stiff as a board, a knuckle pressed to his mouth as he kept his eyes trained on the lolling body in the wheelchair. Any moment now the damn thing was going to rise up and scream and try and kill Noiz’s character and Aoba was _not_ going to make a fool of himself when that scene played out.

Nothing happened.

Noiz made it to the end of the hallway unscathed and burst out laughing. “See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Shut the hell up.” Aoba placed a hand over his throbbing heart. Noiz and these awful kinds games he played were going to be the death of him.

 

* * *

 

**Home From the Hospital**

Noiz dabbed the sterilization sheet to the bloody gash on Aoba’s cheek with great care, but Aoba still fidgeted.

“Ow. Ow, ow, ow…” He looked over in time to see a look of pain flicker across Aoba’s face. “I didn’t know he cut me that deep. Geez.”

“Are you happy now?” Noiz throat felt too tight. He was a little surprised he managed to force through words at all. “That you got this for acting like a reckless idiot?”

Aoba’s wince turned into a glare. “You're one to talk. And I’m ecstatic, thank you very much,” he snapped. “You’re not hurt and three wannabe Ribsters now know that not all no-marks are easy pickings. What’s there not to be happy about?”

“This.” Noiz gently pressed his thumb under the cut, making Aoba shudder. “This is not something to be happy about. You almost lost an eye.”

“The cut’s not that high up, and if you do that one more time I’m going to take care of this injury myself!” Aoba reached a hand over, but Noiz batted it away and continued cleaning it. “Look, I know you didn’t like me going three-on-one with those guys — ”

“It’s never going to happen again.”

“But you hadn’t even been out of your hospital gown for an hour before they came at us! I don’t care if there had been twenty guys to deal with instead of three. No way in hell was I going to let those assholes go anywhere _near_ you!”

Noiz stared at him. Aoba’s face was bright pink, but his expression was set with an absurd amount of determination. He meant every word.

“That’s stupid,” said Noiz at last, searching through the first aid kit for a suitable bandage with fingers that shook.

“You’ve been saying that a lot, today,” Aoba sighed.

“Because it’s true. I know I can’t stop you from doing things like that, but…”

“But…?”

“I’m so angry,” said Noiz very quietly as he applied the bandage over Aoba’s cheek. “I'm so angry at those Ribsters. I wanted to knock all of their teeth out of their mouths for the shit they spewed at you.”

“I could tell.” Aoba’s voice was light, as though he was trying to bring levity to their conversation. “Your face was scary, kid. But it’s fine. They were being gross as an intimidation tactic. Nothing that hasn't been thrown at me before.”

“I don’t care how many times you've had to go through disgusting shit like this. It's not fine. It never was and never will be.” Finished with patching him up, Noiz let his head fall on Aoba’s shoulder. “But I know I probably would have gotten hurt had you let me step in.”

“Really?”

Noiz nodded. “I can admit that. It’s been too soon since my senses have returned to be sure that I would have performed well in a fight. And like you said, it all worked out in the end. You won, they lost. That should be the end of it.”

“But you’re still angry.”

“I can't calm myself. I don't know what to do.”

“Let’s lie down for awhile,” came Aoba’s gentle suggestion as he wrapped an arm around Noiz’s shoulders and held him close. “My bed’s kinda small but it’s more comfortable than the one you were stuck in at the hospital. Maybe you’ll settle down that way.”

“Sure.”

Noiz let Aoba pull him up from the floor and lead him to the bed. It took some maneuvering to fit both of them on it. Aoba ended up squished against the wall and Noiz felt like he was practically on top of him, but it wasn’t so bad. It was nice, really, especially when Aoba’s arm settled around his waist. He didn’t mind that they didn’t speak afterward and that Aoba ended up drifting off to sleep while he remained awake. Wrapped around Aoba’s body and the smell of him helped Noiz’s mind slow the exhausting circles it ran and eased the agitation churning at his core. And that was enough.

  
**Sick Day**

Aoba stopped dead mid-stride upon reentering the den. Noiz sat at the sofa, the hoodie of his loose sweatshirt pulled low over his head. He was surrounded by used tissues, Usagimodoki, and screens projecting long documents and data sheets. Every now and then he would sniffle miserably in between his rapid-fire typing.

“Are you _working?”_

Noiz didn’t even bother taking his eyes off what he was writing. “Yep.”

“Why?!”

“Because I’m bored.”

“You’re sick!”

“Doesn’t stop my boredom.”

Mindful of the bowl of soup he was carrying, Aoba marched up to him the best he could and placed it on the coffee table before taking a seat at the opposite end of the couch. Noiz finally managed to look away long enough to frown at him.

“Why are you so far away?”

“You’re covered in snot, that’s why,” said Aoba, sliding the soup to his side of the coffee table. “Eat before it gets cold.”

Noiz pouted and turned his nose up at the bowl, briefly looking like the haughtiest child in the universe. Then he returned his attention to whatever it was his multiple screens were displaying.

Aoba would have found it hilarious had that not been his attitude for the entire morning.

“If you’re not going to eat any of my soup,” he said in a tone of forced patience. “Then can you at least…take a nap for a bit? Stop exerting yourself while you recover?”

Noiz’s Coil rang before he could open his mouth to respond. They both glanced at it, then at each other.

“Don’t you dare,” said Aoba.

It rang a second time. Noiz looked at it and back to Aoba again, a smile creeping up his lips.

“You can let it go to voice — ”

Noiz pressed a button and lifted it to his mouth. _“Ja?”_

It took everything Aoba had not to cuss him out while he spoke on the phone. Instead, he was forced to fume in silence while a stream of German fell from Noiz’s mouth for over ten minutes, the words becoming more complex the longer he kept up the conversation until it sounded completely indecipherable to Aoba’s ears.

“They know you’re sick,” said Aoba when Noiz hung up. “Why the hell are they still calling you?!”

“It was a quick question,” said Noiz, resuming his place at his keyboard. “I don’t mind getting questions. I’m not a complete invalid.”

Something about his tone was really getting to Aoba. “You’re obviously doing this on purpose.”

“How else am I supposed keep myself occupied when my boyfriend won’t go near me with a ten-foot pole?”

“Is that what this is all about? Noiz, I’m trying to keep myself healthy so that I can better take care of you! Do you remember the last time we both got sick?”

“It worked out alright,” said Noiz with a shrug.

“We were stuck in bed for three days straight. I’d like to avoid a repeat of that.”

“But you didn’t even let me kiss you good morning, today,” he muttered.

He sounded so forlorn that Aoba couldn’t help but laugh even as he buried his face in his hands. “It really bothered you that much?”

“Yes.” The complete lack of hesitation in Noiz’s answer crumbled Aoba’s will to dust.

“Alright,” he said, feeling his better judgment shaking its head at how easily he gave in to Noiz. “What do you want?”

“Feed me your soup.”

Aoba raised an eyebrow. It was a doable request, but…“Didn’t you just tell me that you weren’t an invalid?”

Noiz narrowed his eyes. “Please.”

“It was just an observation,” said Aoba quickly. He scooted over a cushion and picked up the bowl and spoon. “Say ‘aaah’.”

Noiz promptly opened his mouth and let Aoba stick some soup in it.

“How is it?” asked Aoba as he swallowed. “It’s straight from a can, so it’s nothing fancy.”

“It’s pretty good, s _chatz.”_

Aoba dropped the spoon right into the bowl, splashing drops of hot liquid all over his legs.

Noiz’s laugh sounded more like he was desperately trying to keep himself from coughing out his innards. He had to turn away for a few moments before he could speak again. “I thought that’d be your reaction. Cute.”

“Why are you messing with me so much?” Aoba grumbled, wiping at his thighs with his sleeve.

“You’re a good distraction. Hey, Aoba, can you put your hand on my forehead?”

“Of course.” Aoba reached into Noiz’s hood and slipped his hand under his bangs. “Wow, you’re still burning up. You function pretty well for someone with a high fever.”

Noiz mumbled something wearily. He leaned heavily into Aoba’s touch, eyes closed.

“Will you stop trying to work at home and just rest after you’re done eating?” Aoba asked, his heart wobbling at how vulnerable Noiz suddenly appeared.

Noiz nodded and pressed his hand against Aoba’s.

“That means no answering phone calls, either.”

“Hold me and I won’t think or lift a finger for the rest of the day.”

“You’re such a dangerous kid.” But Aoba moved over as close as he could and threw his arms around Noiz’s hunched shoulders. Noiz hummed happily and snuggled into him, but kept his hands to himself. “I’ll help you get better, so take it easy for now, okay?”

“I’ll try and behave myself, Nurse Aoba.”

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For "The Couple That Plays Together": The video game being referenced is Outlast. Someone already did a [cute](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1163425) NoiAo fic of them playing Amnesia, but I am all about the OTP playing scary games together so I couldn't resist writing my own version. What Noiz isn't saying is that he played the demo before and the wheelchair guy is a jump scare only AFTER the security room key is retrieved. He just wants to get Aoba to cling to him tbh. ;3
> 
> "Ja?" - Yes?
> 
> "[...] schatz." - [...] treasure.


	5. 29 - A Good Morning

“P! P-p-p!”

Noiz’s eyes snapped open. A few Usagimodoki were bouncing all over his chest and stomach, beeping quietly but obnoxiously.

“Six o’clock! Six o’clock,” they sang in hushed tones. “Noiz wants to be up at six o’clock!”

“I’m up,” he grumbled.

At the sound of their master’s voice, the cubes immediately rolled up and hovered around his face. “Good morning, Noiz!”

“That’s enough.” Grimacing, he sat up and shooed them back.

Aoba gave a snort beside him. Noiz glanced his way, holding his breath as he kept absolutely still. His eyes had adjusted just enough to the darkness to make out Aoba’s form splayed out on his side of the bed, the headphones he had worn to sleep askew. Noiz could hear faint, gentle music floating from them.

Very, very carefully, Noiz reached down and shifted the headphones back over Aoba’s ears. Aoba murmured something completely unintelligible in response, a mess of German and Japanese syllables mashed into a single language. His head lolled to the side, mouth slack, drool no doubt dripping onto the pillow. An earthquake wouldn’t wake the guy up.

God, he was messy as hell when sleeping. Weirdly adorable.

Though Noiz knew he ought to slip out of bed and carry out his plan as soon as possible, his heart had him doing otherwise. He cupped Aoba’s warm neck under his palm and kissed his forehead, his cheek, and then his saliva-slicked bottom lip. Shoulders shaking in silent laughter, Noiz wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and got up from bed. If he wasn’t careful he’d end up cuddling with him under a cocoon of blankets until the sun came up.

Alertness already largely returned to him, Noiz strode out of their bedroom and headed into the kitchen, his Allmates trailing behind him. The last bunny cube smacked itself into the switch on the wall as Noiz opened the fridge, flooding the room with light.

“This is so exciting,” squeaked the cube floating at his shoulder. “Breakfast feast! Breakfast feast!”

“You’re too loud,” Noiz sighed, dragging several plastic bags out of the fridge. The day before he had convinced Aoba the food was for a work event. It was a true enough excuse. Aoba had an interview scheduled for the secretarial department of his family’s company later that day. A solid part-time job with a consistent schedule. Aoba had been ecstatic when he had first gotten the call a couple of weeks ago. By yesterday evening he was picking at his dinner, barely speaking, and tossing and turning in Noiz’s arms while they tried to sleep until Noiz handed him his headphones. It was well past two in the morning before the tight, ashen look to Aoba’s face finally relaxed.

He set the plastic bags on the counter and took out a styrofoam package of beef. To say that Aoba was anxious over the impending interview would have been an understatement. It didn’t matter how many times Noiz tried to tell him that there was no rush to him working, that there were plenty more openings in the city if this one fell through, that the chance of the interviewer dismissing him over trivial biases was a fair possibility that indicated nothing of Aoba’s true abilities. The blow to Aoba’s pride would be harsh if he didn’t land the job, especially if he got even the slightest inkling that he had underperformed. At this point, all Noiz could do was help Aoba keep his chin up throughout the ordeal. Good food usually did the trick.

Too bad Noiz didn’t know the first thing about how to make good food.

“Okay,” said Noiz, taking some vegetables out of the bag, “pull up Grandma’s email.”

“Roger!”

Noiz touched the screen Usagimodoki projected for him and angled it to the side so that he could glance at it while cooking. His brow creased the tiniest bit when he reread it. Grandma’s instructions for beef stew were vague, but he was fairly sure he got the gist of it. The process seemed more time-consuming rather than difficult.

He smiled to himself and began opening drawers at random for something suitable to cut open the beef. There was no way Aoba wouldn’t regain at least some of his optimism after waking up to a large serving of his favorite dish for breakfast.

But over an hour, a bunch of haphazardly cut meat, a mess of vegetable peelings, and a generous helping of spilled salt across the counter later, Noiz found himself staring dubiously down at the result of his efforts bubbling away in the pot.

“Something’s off,” said Noiz.

“Would you like us to find more beef stew recipes?”

Noiz nodded as he stirred his creation with a ladle. It definitely didn’t smell right. Grandma had cooked it for him and Aoba once, and the scent that had filled the kitchen that night had been mouthwatering. The scent now? Not so much.

“Here are three more recipes for comparison!”

“Let’s see…” He dragged the three new screens in front of him and shifted Grandma’s email on top of the rest. Looking back and forth between his monitors didn’t help much. If anything, it only made Noiz more confused. “Why the hell are there so many variables to this dish?”

“According to our searches, beef stew can vary widely depending on factors such as country, culinary culture, and personal preferences,” said a bunny cube floating above his head. “We can easily pull up thousands of recipe variations if you want us to! It’s fascinating! Human food is so fascinating!” The rest of the Usagimodoki began squeaking in agreement.

“But that doesn’t help me now,” said Noiz, glaring at his Allmates for lack of anything else to aim his frustration at. “This needs to taste like _Grandma’s_ version of beef stew and none of these directions match what she sent me. This one says I need wine. This other recipe has flour as an ingredient. I don’t understand. Where would flour come in? The last one states it needs to cook for three hours in a slow cooker and I don’t even know what that looks like but I know we don’t have it.” Noiz sighed, rubbing at his eyes. “Run another search. This time I only want the top five recipes closest to — ”

“Noiz? Ouch!”

A heavy thunk went off behind him. He spun around. Aoba stood in the doorway, hand pressed to his forehead. He had his eyes screwed closed, hair in complete chaos, and shirt twisted up, pale stomach exposed.

Noiz bit down a laugh, cooking woes momentarily forgotten. “Are you alright, sleeping beauty?”

“Shut up.” Aoba shuffled over to him. “And good morning. But mostly shut up. Wall wouldn’t move. Ran into it.”

“What a rude wall. We should file a complaint. Are you even awake?”

“Not really,” he grunted. “I had a dream Akushima was ransacking our kitchen. When I asked him what the hell he thought he was doing he started crying and told me that his megaphone was the only thing in this world that truly understood him. Which didn’t explain why he was trying to eat all our spoons.”

“Interesting.” Noiz pushed Aoba’s mussed bangs back. There was a bright red mark right above his eyebrow, but it didn’t look like too serious an injury. “Were you making a point with that or did you just feel like sharing?”

“My point is that you were so loud the sounds forced their way into my subconscious and made me think really idiotic thoughts before waking me up.”

“Sorry.” Noiz kissed his forehead in apology. “Go back to sleep, Aoba. I’ll try to be quieter.”

“I would, but…” With what was clearly a painful effort, Aoba opened his eyes and squinted around the kitchen. “What are you…why is it so messy in here?”

“I’m cooking.”

Frowning, Aoba stumbled around Noiz and peered into the pot on the stove. Then looked up at all the translucent monitors floating above it. He finally stared back at Noiz, who could almost hear the gears in Aoba’s head throwing sparks as he attempted to connect the dots while more than half-asleep.

“What is this?”

The question had Noiz shrugging and glancing someplace else, pinpricks of something like annoyance settling into his skin. “You can’t tell what it’s supposed to be right away?”

“It’s beef stew,” one of his bunnies cried, zipping around Aoba’s head like an angry green wasp. “Isn’t it obvious? He’s making beef stew!”

“Beef…?” Aoba looked more awake at the revelation, as well as disconcertingly alarmed. He grabbed the ladle Noiz had abandoned and scooped up the pot’s contents, examining it closely. After a second of heavy silence, he dumped the sample back into the rest of the stew, turned off the stove, and moved the pot to the cold back-burner behind it.

Now Noiz was definitely annoyed. “It wasn’t even salvageable?”

“Hold on.” Aoba went to the sink, turned the cold tap on, and splashed icy water on his face with a gasp. “Okay! Okay, I think I’m awake.” Face dripping, he ripped a swath of paper towels off the roll and patted it dry.

Noiz leaned against the kitchen island, shoulders hunched, wishing his boxers had pockets to stick his hands in. “So? What did I do wrong?”

Aoba lowered the paper towel from his face. “The big thing is that you didn’t brown the meat.”

“Brown the meat?”

“Like frying the outside of it.”

“Grandma’s email didn’t say anything about that.”

“Can I see it?” he asked.

Noiz gestured to the bunny cube projecting the email, who obligingly hovered over to Aoba.

“P! Here you go!”

“Thank you.” Aoba scanned the screen. “Ah, I thought so. When it comes to teaching others how to cook, Granny kind of assumes we’re all innate master chefs like her. It’s always better to ask her personally. That way you can get her to explain the directions in more detail.”

“Wish I’d known that from the start,” Noiz mumbled. “I guess that’s it for beef stew.”

“That’s not true!” Aoba came up to him, Usagimodoki bouncing and beeping happily on his shoulder. “Well, yeah, we’ll have to throw out what’s in the pot, but we can always call Granny about her instructions later on if you really want to eat it.”

Noiz turned his head away. “For you.”

“Huh?”

“This wasn’t for me. I don’t care what we eat for breakfast. I was trying to make your favorite dish for you.”

“Really? Aw, geez.” Aoba’s lips, still cold from the sink water, pressed into his cheek. “Thanks, Noiz.”

“For what? You didn’t get to eat anything.”

“You tried and I appreciate it, brat, so quit your pouting.” With a laugh, Aoba gripped Noiz under his chin, forcing their eyes to meet, and pressed their mouths together as though he wanted to kiss his frown away. Noiz didn’t hesitate to curl his arms around Aoba’s waist and relax into his touch.

“Tell you what,” said Aoba when they finally broke apart, “how about I make us miso soup for breakfast? We still have all the ingredients for that.”

“You weren’t supposed to cook this morning.”

“Maybe not,” Aoba moved his hand from Noiz’s chin to the top of his head, steering it until Noiz had a full view of the mess he had spread all over the counters and stove top, “but you’ll be too busy cleaning to help me out.”

“…Whatever.”

Aoba grinned and ruffled his hair. Noiz bore it with an irritated grumble. “You’re such a good kid. I’ll be back in a second, okay?”

“Alright.”

After another, swifter kiss, Noiz let Aoba step away from the circle of his arms and out of the kitchen.

“No breakfast feast? No beef stew?”

Noiz turned to the Allmates that had gathered around him. “No beef stew. Aoba’s going to fix breakfast.” A plain, easy, everyday sort of breakfast. If that was what he wanted then Noiz supposed he was also fine with it, but…

“Is Noiz disappointed?”

“He wasn’t supposed to cook,” he repeated, unable to think of anything else to say.

“Noiz is disappointed!”

Noiz clicked his tongue and looked around for a dishrag, the back of his neck a little hot.

Aoba returned before Noiz started cleaning. He was smoothing his hair back and tying it up into a knot with quick, practiced movements of his hands. When Ren rounded the corner right behind him, all the Usagimodoki perked up.

“Ren! Ren! Good morning, Ren!”

“Good morning, Usagimodoki. And to you, too, Noiz.”

“Play with us!”

“Isn’t it too early for that?” asked Ren.

“Never! It’s never to early for Ren to play with Usagimodoki!”

Ren sighed and looked up at Aoba for guidance, but Aoba had been watching the exchange with a goofy smile on his face. Noiz shook his head. He was such a sap for Allmates.

“Oh, what’s the harm?” asked Aoba cheerfully. “Just try not to be too loud or knock anything over.”

The Usagimodoki turned to Noiz. They couldn’t make expressions, but their anticipation was palpable.

“Do what you like,” said Noiz. “Don’t get in our way while we’re making breakfast.”

“Yay! Our masters say you have to play with us, Ren!”

“Play with us!”

“Yeah, let’s play!”

“Very well.” As unenthusiastic as Ren’s reply was, he suddenly tensed, leaning back on his stubby hind legs and growling before darting behind Aoba and dashing out of the kitchen.

“P! Five, four, three, two, one, zero! Swarm set!”

“Roger!”

“Go, go, go! We can’t let Ren escape!”

“Ready or not, here we come!”

Cheering, the Usagimodoki rose in the air as one and flew off, splitting up briefly to avoid hitting Noiz and Aoba before reuniting and whipping around the corner after Ren.

“That was so freakin’ cute.”

“I guess.” It was the only degree of agreement Noiz was willing to say out loud. “Allmate-to-Allmate interactions are interesting, though. I think mine get livelier when they’re around yours.”

“Hm, that sounded like a really long-winded way of saying you also thought that was cute.”

Noiz shot him a look. Aoba held up his hands apologetically, a gesture diluted by the teasing smile on his face.

“Never mind,” he said innocently. “I’ll go get everything ready. Do we have rice left over or do I need to make a new batch?”

“There’s a lot left in the fridge.”

“This shouldn’t take too long, then. Coffee or tea?”

“Tea is fine.”

Reluctantly, Noiz turned to the counter and began wiping them down, pushing the vegetable skins and stray bits of raw beef into a pile to dump it all in the trash at once. Meanwhile, Aoba maneuvered around him, pulling a fresh pot from the cupboard and taking out ingredients, moving through the kitchen with more confidence than Noiz ever did. He fiddled a bit with his Coil as he prepped the meal, and soon an energetic song began to play. Aoba hummed along with it, nodding his head and stepping to the beat in a way that was almost dancing.

Noiz watched him out of the corner of his eye as he began to wipe away the vegetable oil spills he had left on the stove. He couldn’t ask for anything more than a happy, carefree Aoba, but something wasn’t quite right. Was he really no longer worried about his job interview? It seemed too abrupt a demeanor change in Aoba for that to be the case.

“Want a picture of me, instead? Those last longer.” Aoba placed a pot of water on the stove, nudging Noiz over with the side of his hips.

“They aren't anywhere near as good as the real thing,” said Noiz, not the least bit ashamed his observations had been more unsubtle than he realized. “Pictures can’t react like this, either.” He leaned down and placed a slow, sucking kiss to the exposed nape of Aoba’s neck.

“Gah!” Aoba shivered, causing Noiz to grin in satisfaction even as Aoba shoved his head away. “It’s too damn early in the morning to deal with you acting like a perv.”

“That’s not what you were telling me three days ago.”

“Wash the dishes!” Aoba turned the knob on the stove so hard it nearly snapped in his grip.

Noiz snickered, but his humor was neatly squelched when he turned to the sink. He didn’t remember using half the stuff that had somehow ended up dirty.

“…Or not.” Now it was Aoba’s turn to laugh as he peered from the sink to Noiz’s face. “We can do those together after we’re done eating.”

The amount of relief Noiz felt was almost embarrassing.

“C’mon, tea’s ready. Let’s wait at the table while the water boils.”

Two steaming mugs sat on the island counter. Noiz eyed the soup ingredients Aoba had carefully lined on the island’s lower level curiously. Green leafy stuff floated in a small plastic bowl of water, a spoon held pale powder, strange brown paste sat in a measuring cup, and tofu — the only thing Noiz could name off the top off his head — lay in cubes on a chopping block. Noiz grabbed one and popped it in his mouth. It didn’t taste like much, but he kind of liked the texture of it. Squishy.

“Hey! No eating the ingredients!” Aoba took both mugs and took a seat at the small table on the other side of the island. “Come and sit down.”

Noiz was slightly tempted to take a second cube, more to see if he could get a stronger flavor out of it than to be contrary, but he managed to resist and sat down next to Aoba, instead.

“You seem a lot more cheerful today,” said Noiz when Aoba slid his tea over to him. “It’s good to see.”

Aoba gave him a blank look as he blew at his tea. “Should I…not be?”

Noiz wouldn’t let such a lapse go uncorrected if Aoba had truly forgotten, not for something this important. “You should check your schedule. Refresh your memory.”

Frowning, Aoba pulled up a small screen on his Coil. His eyes widened a second later, the happiness draining from his body.

“It really slipped your mind for awhile, huh?”

Aoba buried his head in his hands, the muffled laugh coming from between his fingers anything but humorous. “This is what happens when I wake up three hours before my alarm is set to go off. The interview is definitely a thing that’s happening today, isn’t it?”

“Not necessarily. Do you want it to happen?” asked Noiz.

Noiz met the glare Aoba aimed at him from over his fingers with a casual twitch of his shoulders.

“Of course I want it to happen!”

“How badly?”

“Very! This is the first part-time job I’ve found that I know I can do well at right off the bat. I _need_ it.”

The air around Aoba almost crackled with a kind of fierce energy, an improvement leaps and bounds over the doomed shadow that had hung around him the day before.

“With determination like that I wonder why you’re nervous in the first place,” said Noiz. “Take it with you to the interview and I think you’ll do fine.”

“I know. _I know.”_ Aoba blew out a frustrated breath and took a sip of his tea. “I haven’t been ignoring anything you’ve been telling me over the past few days, Noiz. In my head I know you’re right and that I’m probably not going to royally screw myself over during the interview. I just — crap, I don’t know. The rest of me still feels like a mess. I’ve been worrying myself sick over the _stupidest_ details, like maybe I misheard the date and I was actually scheduled to go in yesterday or — ”

 _“Stop.”_ Noiz grabbed his hand before Aoba could fall down that endless pit of a thought train. “That’s not the case. And on the off chance it is? We move on and look for another opening for you somewhere else. There’s more secretarial positions in other parts of the city. It’ll be less convenient than us working in the same building, but we’ll figure out a way to make it work.”

“You make it all sound so simple.” Aoba laced their fingers together. “I envy you, Noiz.”

That certainly threw him for a loop. “Why?”

“You’re almost always so collected about everything. How do you do that? Is there a trick to it?”

Noiz stared down at their joined hands, slightly put off. Not annoyed, really. Maybe bewildered described the feeling better. “It’s just how I am, not anything I can teach you.”

Aoba laughed quietly. “I figured. Don’t mind me, I’m rambling. There’s no way I can learn to act all cool like you in the span of a few hours.” He suddenly scooted his chair over and leaned his head against Noiz’s shoulder, a warm color rising to his cheeks. “But — and I’ve thought about this before, actually — just being around you helps…even me out, I guess. That’s enough for me.”

Noiz let go of Aoba’s hand and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. Aoba had become more open over the past two and a half years they’ve been together, handing Noiz sudden, tender confessions of his feelings that Noiz stored in his mind and cherished like gifts. There was something specially wonderful in this most recent admittance, that he considered Noiz his rock the way Noiz saw him as his light. He buried his face in Aoba’s hair and made a determined resolution to be steady and strong, someone Aoba would never hesitate to turn to whenever he felt overwhelmed.

“I know you said you’re fine with taking the train, but I’d like to wait for you in the car.” Noiz’s voice was soft.

“Do you really want to go back to work on your day off?” Aoba didn't sound all that displeased.

“I don’t mind.”

Aoba rubbed the side of his face against his shoulder. “‘Course you would say that. We can go out to eat after I’m done. Then we can call Granny tonight and see if we can get her to decipher her beef stew instructions.”

“Sounds good to me.” Noiz tightened his hold on Aoba, who smiled and closed his eyes in reply. With the water gurgling on the stove, steam curling from their cups of tea, and the morning sun brightening the dining room as it rose into the sky, Noiz couldn’t think of a better way to start the day.


End file.
